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The 1838 olive oil production process for extra virgin olive oil.
| HANDPICKING |
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Our olives are hand picked into catching frames and then transferred into aerated olive bins. |
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At no stage do the olives come into contact with the ground |
| QUICK PROCESSING |
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As olives bruise easily it is essential that the fruit be pressed quickly. With our Pieralisi continuous 2 phase press on site the olives are pressed within hours of picking, ensuring the freshness is retained. |
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| CLEAN OLIVE PRESS |
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Before and after each day of pressing, the press is steam cleaned thoroughly. Any left over paste or residue will quickly go rancid and this will taint future batches of paste. |
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| WASH & LEAF REMOVAL |
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Firstly the fruit is washed in a tumble washer and leaves removed |
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| PASTE MALAXED |
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The fruit is then transferred to a hammer mill where the olive (flesh & seed) is crushed and deposited into the malaxer. The malaxer is similar to a butter churn and its paddles slowly churn the paste, causing the oil molecules to form together. |
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| PASTE CENTRIFUGED |
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Once the oil formation commences the paste is pumped to the horizontal centrifuge which separates solids/water from the oil. |
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The oil is now pumped through a vertical centrifuge(separator) which separates any remaining water and vegetable matter from the oil. |
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The oil produced is chemically tested on site for acidity |
| OIL LEFT TO SETTLE/STABILISE |
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The resultant oil is stored in stainless steel containers for approximately 4 weeks, during which time the oil clarifies, it looses its volatility and any remaining vegetable matter settles to the bottom of the container. |
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At this stage the oil is ready for bottling with no filtering. |
| KEY FACTORS IN PRODUCING EXTRA VIRGION OLIVE OIL |
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Perfect fruit, carefully picked to minimise any bruising & thus oxidation |
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Pressing the fruit quickly, thus minimising any oxidation |
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Pressing the fruit in a spotlessly clean press |
ALL EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL MUST BE COLD PRESSED AND FIRST PRESSED No heating of paste is allowed and the paste can only be treated once
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